Lifespan

[CrazyCrabGirlio]

Hey there, so I have an important question, how long have your guys' crabs lived in captivity. I feel like I must be doing something wrong because this is my second go around and my hermit crabs are only living a few months. I'm frustrated because I've done so much research, spent so much time and money into taking care of them. I want to know what I am doing wrong. It's very sad for me when I find yet another dead hermit crab. Ihave the humidity right and the temp, all the climbing and crawling spaces, tons of sand and substrate, I switch the waters every single day, I change the food every couple, what on earth am I doing wrong??? :'(

[Crabinski]

I've had one of my original crabs for 8+ years, another for 4+ years and the other two for just about 2 years. The first two were from pet shops and the last two were craigslist rescues.

Sometimes it's just the crabs themselves: they've been through so much trauma (snatched from the wild, forced out of their shells and into painted ones, shipped in poor conditions and then introduced to barely acceptable conditions in pet stores) that they've used up all of their strength by the time they're adopted. Even with ideal conditions in a home crabitat, they just can't rally.

Fill out this Emergency template so we can see if there's anything "off" in your set-up: viewtopic.php?t=46102

[CrazyCrabGirlio]

Awesome awesome thanks, I will. Thanks for the quick reply


Actually the link won't open, please help

[Rawrgeous]

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=46102
This link should work. It probably got cut off somehow.

[robinwhiskers]

I'm not a longtime crabber, so I can't give an answer. I've only had Brigadier and Lola for 13 months and Harley for 6 months.

[Jackolope]

My friend has a crab that is still alive after 25 years. The longest I have had a crab was 5 years, but he was about 14 when he died. He was a rescue.

[LadyJinglyJones]

My friend has a crab that is still alive after 25 years. The longest I have had a crab was 5 years, but he was about 14 when he died. He was a rescue.

May I ask what size tank the 25 year crab was kept in?

[Jackolope]

My friend has a crab that is still alive after 25 years. The longest I have had a crab was 5 years, but he was about 14 when he died. He was a rescue.

May I ask what size tank the 25 year crab was kept in?

I don't know the exact size but it was pretty huge. She lives in Colorado. She also lets the crab walk around the house now and then for exercise and to explore. He's about the size of a softball as of last summer. I do not have a recent photo.

[aussieJJDude]

Are you talking about Carol Jackolope? (They around the high 30's now, approaching 40 soon... and I believe that they kept in a 20g tank.)

[Jackolope]

Are you talking about Carol Jackolope? (They around the high 30's now, approaching 40 soon... and I believe that they kept in a 20g tank.)

No, my friend is not on this site.

[LadyJinglyJones]

Eeeeeenteresting.

[Jackolope]

Eeeeeenteresting.

I'm sure you probably think I am making this up but I promise I'm not.

[LadyJinglyJones]

Not at all - I was thinking a couple days ago that I'd noticed a sort of trend in reading about really old captive crabs (not that there are a ton to read about), and it seems like they often have really big enclosures, or have free-range privileges. That's all.

[Jackolope]

Not at all - I was thinking a couple days ago that I'd noticed a sort of trend in reading about really old captive crabs (not that there are a ton to read about), and it seems like they often have really big enclosures, or have free-range privileges. That's all.

Well in my case it's the free range, but not all of the time. I haven't been on this blog in a while.

[LadyJinglyJones]

You also let your crabs out?